Track

Status

Governing provision

No limitation, by class — § 775.15(1): “A prosecution for a capital felony, a life felony, or a felony that resulted in a death may be commenced at any time.”

The child sexual abuse rules are layered by date and by the victim’s age, and they must be read together. § 775.15(13)(a): where the victim of a violation of s. 794.011 (sexual battery), former s. 794.05, s. 800.04 (lewd or lascivious offenses on a victim under 16), s. 826.04 (incest) or s. 847.0135(5) is under 18, the applicable period “does not begin to run until the victim has reached the age of 18 or the violation is reported to a law enforcement agency or other governmental agency, whichever occurs earlier”; and where the offense is a first or second degree felony violation of s. 794.011 reported within 72 hours, prosecution may be commenced at any time. This does not reach an offense already barred by subsection (2) on or before 31 December 1984.

§ 775.15(13)(b): a first-degree felony violation of s. 794.011 where the victim was under 18 — at any time; not reaching offenses already barred on or before 1 October 2003. § 775.15(13)(c): any violation of s. 794.011 where the victim was under 16 — at any time; not reaching offenses already barred on or before 1 July 2010.

§ 775.15(18): a violation of s. 800.04(4) or (5) where the victim was under 16 — at any time, “unless, at the time of the offense, the offender is less than 18 years of age and is no more than 4 years older than the victim”; not reaching offenses barred on or before 1 October 2014. § 775.15(20): where the victim was younger than 18, a prosecution for a violation of s. 794.011 may be commenced at any time — but this subsection “applies to an offense that is committed on or after July 1, 2020”, so it is purely prospective.

§ 775.15(21): any offense under s. 827.071(2) or (3) (sexual performance by a child) where the offender was 18 or older — at any time; not reaching offenses barred on or before 1 July 2022. § 775.15(19): a violation of s. 787.06 (human trafficking) — at any time; not reaching offenses barred on or before 1 October 2014.

NEW IN 2026 — § 775.15(23): “If the offense is a violation of s. 39.201, the applicable period of limitation does not begin to run until a law enforcement agency or other governmental agency, excluding any institution where the violation occurs, is made aware of the violation. This subsection applies to any offense that is not otherwise barred from prosecution on or before July 1, 2026.” Section 39.201 is the mandatory reporting provision. The words “excluding any institution where the violation occurs” are the operative ones: reporting inside the institution does not start the clock.

DNA routes — § 775.15(16)(a): prosecution may be commenced at any time after the accused’s identity is established through DNA analysis, for (among others) sexual battery under chapter 794, a lewd or lascivious offense under s. 800.04, s. 825.1025 or s. 847.0135(5), and aggravated child abuse under s. 827.03, provided a sufficient portion of the evidence is preserved and available for testing by the accused. Applies to offenses not otherwise barred on or after 1 July 2006.

Where the victim was 16 or older — § 775.15(14)(a): a first- or second-degree felony violation of s. 794.011 reported within 72 hours, at any time. § 775.15(14)(b): otherwise, eight years; not reaching offenses barred on or before 1 July 2015.

The general periods that apply where none of the above does — § 775.15(2): first degree felony, four years; any other felony, three years; first degree misdemeanor, two years; second degree misdemeanor or noncriminal violation, one year.

Why “partly removed”: Florida has removed the deadline in layers rather than at a stroke, and each layer carries its own commencement date and its own express refusal to revive what had already expired. The clearest surviving gap is age: a victim who was 16 or 17 when the sexual battery occurred, before 1 July 2020, is on the eight-year rule in § 775.15(14)(b), not “at any time”. Lewd or lascivious offenses under s. 800.04 against 16- and 17-year-olds sit outside § 775.15(18) for the same reason. The classification should stay “Partly removed”.

Fla. Stat. § 775.15 — The Florida Senate, 2026 Florida Statutes (official state publication)

The general abuse rule — § 95.11(8): “An action founded on alleged abuse, as defined in s. 39.01, s. 415.102, or s. 984.03; incest, as defined in s. 826.04; or an action brought pursuant to s. 787.061 may be commenced at any time within 7 years after the age of majority, or within 4 years after the injured person leaves the dependency of the abuser, or within 4 years from the time of discovery by the injured party of both the injury and the causal relationship between the injury and the abuse, whichever occurs later.” Three alternative triggers, and the latest governs. 

No deadline for the youngest victims — § 95.11(10): “An action related to an act constituting a violation of s. 794.011 or an action brought pursuant to s. 787.061 involving a victim who was under the age of 16 at the time of the act may be commenced at any time. This subsection applies to any such action other than one which would have been time barred on or before July 1, 2010.” 

How time is computed — § 95.031: the period runs from accrual, and a cause of action accrues when the last element occurs. § 95.051(1)(i): the running of the limitation is tolled by the minority of the person entitled to sue only during any period in which a parent, guardian or guardian ad litem does not exist, has an interest adverse to the minor, or is adjudicated incapacitated to sue — and in any event the action must be begun within seven years after the act. § 95.051(2): “A disability or other reason does not toll the running of any statute of limitations except those specified in this section”. 

Contracting around it is void — § 95.03: any contractual provision fixing a shorter period than the applicable statute of limitations is void. 

Why “partly removed”: the elimination in § 95.11(10) is narrow twice over. It reaches only victims who were under 16 at the time of the act, and only claims founded on sexual battery under s. 794.011 or trafficking under s. 787.061 — and it expressly does not revive anything already barred by 1 July 2010. A survivor abused at 16, or abused in a way that is not sexual battery, is on the § 95.11(8) rule: seven years past majority, or four years from leaving the abuser’s dependency, or four years from discovery. That is a long rule but it is a deadline.

Fla. Stat. § 95.11 — The Florida Senate, 2026 Florida Statutes (official state publication)

The civil cut-off — § 95.11(10): the elimination “applies to any such action other than one which would have been time barred on or before July 1, 2010.” That is the opposite of a revival clause: it is a clause preserving expired limitation defenses. 

The criminal cut-offs — the same drafting habit runs through § 775.15: (13)(a) excepts offenses barred on or before 31 December 1984; (13)(b), 1 October 2003; (13)(c) and (18), 1 July 2010 and 1 October 2014; (19), 1 October 2014; (14)(b), 1 July 2015; (20) applies only to offenses committed on or after 1 July 2020; (21), 1 July 2022; and the new (23), 1 July 2026. 

Florida is a clean example of a jurisdiction that has reformed steadily for forty years and never once reached backwards. Every amendment moves the line forward for people whose claims were still alive on the day it passed. The tracker’s “None” is right, and the reason is worth recording: it is not legislative silence but a consistent, deliberate drafting choice.

Fla. Stat. § 95.11 — The Florida Senate, 2026 Florida Statutes 

Fla. Stat. § 775.15 — The Florida Senate, 2026 Florida Statutes

no Florida row.

Worth adding to Bills to track — the 2026 amendment creating § 775.15(23) is squarely CHILD USA territory: it stops the limitation clock on a failure-to-report prosecution from running while the only body that knows is the institution where the abuse happened. It takes effect 1 July 2026 and does not reach prosecutions already barred by that date.